Anchor
by samira403
Summary: The war is coming and the sides are starting to form. Theo going to the Dark and Luna to the Light. But are those choices so inevitable? They anchor each other to fight for survival by an act of kindness and an act of affection.


**A small one-shot of ramblings and pure fluff. I don't own any of the characters :)**

Theo Nott sat in an alcove in the library and looked out on the empty grounds of Hogwarts. The library was especially quiet and empty too that night. A Quidditch practice was underway there on the pitch. Underneath the castle, the Slug club had their meeting in full swing. Others were most likely preparing to go home in a few weeks. 'If only they knew of the storm coming,' he thought dejectedly and helplessly.

Theo thanked the stars every day for his clean, unblemished left forearm. His father was till in Azkaban, small mercies and the worse that happened to him because of that was not getting an invitation to Slughorn's little club. He was more than content to keep his head down this year and go about his own business.

'As long as his best mate did not drag him into any kind of mess,' the nagging thought popped back into his head again, as it did every single day.

Theo worried about Draco, naturally and the task he had been given that summer by the Dark Lord. He did not know the specifics but house elves hear and speak. Mostly, judging by the bottles of firewhiskey he had helped Draco down that particular night, the young Slytherin knew it was going to be a nightmare. The only comfort was that with his father gone, Nott Manor had been the only place of solace for his blond friend and his mother too, who had taken to fussing even more over Theo since the Dark Lord appeared on the Malfoy's doorstep. He had laid awake so many nights that summer, hearing Draco scream from the fiery pain from his branded arm. When his friend had fallen unconscious from the pain, Narcissa would slip into his room for a minute and stand at the window next to his bed, braced with a steely glint in her eyes while they surveyed the place, making sure that Theo was still safe.

Slowly over that summer, the three of them started dropping their ideals and principles. How do you stand on rivers of blood, painful screams of your own and believe that it was all for the best? Draco had very quickly stopped caring about blood prejudices and the likes what with his parents' lives depending on him. Both boys had ventured out to all sorts of libraries, muggle and wizarding, looking for books on poisons and furniture building. Theo did not even question his friend's strange request. Slytherins persevered and looked after their own after all, unquestionably. Which was why, despite his self-preservation instincts, he was sat there, filching poisons books from the Restricted Section using Weasley Wizard Wheezes tricks. He could not make sense of Draco's obsession with restoring furniture but potion was his forte and poisons were potions. Without any side or anything to fight for, he might as well do something for his mate who at least had a purpose.

xx

This was where Luna Lovegood found him. Sat by himself and brooding, she thought he looked lonelier than ever before.

"Hello Theo," she said calmly as she made her way to him.

His head snapped up, not at the voice but the warmth in them was enough to draw him out of his dark musings. At first he did not recognize the slight girl in front of him. She was dressed in a dark blue frock that robbed her hair of their ethereal glow but made her eyes so much more mysterious. She was stroking Miss Norris who seemed, for the first time in his entire life at the castle, happy. Luna saw the direction of his gaze and the bemused expression on his face. She let out a tinkling laugh and set Miss Norris down. After a lazy stretch, the cat wandered off.

"She is very good at sensing students," Luna said in a low tone, as if imparting a secret, "especially those who really do not want to be found."

At a complete loss in the situation, Theo could only look at her. His brain seemed to have short-circuited and he felt as if he was looking through a glass at this weird interaction. Luna, disregarding his lack of response, pulled a chair at his table and carried on.

"I am not quite sure if you know me. I have seen you though, sometimes at the thestrals enclosure or sometimes at the lake really early in the morning. Do you look for the plimpies too?"

Theo could hardly believe his ears. Luna Lovegood was talking to him, about plimpies, with a book on deadly poison opened on the table between them. One he knew very well that she'd seen. 'Think Theo, quickly find a way to get rid of her and get yourself to the dungeons.' Luna though, he observed kept talking while looking straight at him, in his eyes. This fact unnerved him a bit. 'Surely she could see that I was not paying any attention, right?' he thought exasperatedly.

"Look Lovegood, I don't know what you want with me but I don't do friendly chats. If you will excuse me, I would like to get back to my dorm now."

He looked straight at her and saw her eyes harden for a fraction of second, before turning dreamy again. He rose from the table, grabbed the book and made for the exit.

"Books from the Restricted section are dangerous Theo, some not for the knowledge they contain but the actions they prompt people to," her low voice filtered through the shelves and made him froze midstep. She was a Ravenclaw through and through, he acknowledged quietly.

"And what are you going to do? Snitch on me?"

"No," he heard her slight steps gliding towards him.

"Then? Look I don't want any business with anyone and especially if it has anything to do with Potter. Don't come looking for me again, do you get it?"

Luna drew closer, careful not to overstep the clear boundaries he's put around himself. She felt terribly sad on realising that underneath his cool and collected demeanour he hid such confusion and fear. She had never interacted much with Slytherins in her five years at the school. They used to sneer at her when she'd pass them by, but gradually they deemed her even unworthy of that attention. As such she had no idea how to go about understanding the ways of Theodore Nott and he made her feel so fragile and powerless. A first for Luna since she had never wavered in her knowledge or ability to face any unknown creature before. 'Except he is not a creature Luna. He is a boy,' her mind taunted her and she frowned at her obvious cluelessness on the boy matter. And this one in particular tugged at her and fascinated her. But that was not why she was here. She had allowed the wrackspurts to mislead her thoughts and as she looked around, she realised that the tall broody Slytherin had been long gone.

xx

Theo kept glancing over his shoulder at every turn of corridor and did not let go of his wand until he was ensconced in the velvet of the armchair in front of the fireplace in the Slytherin common room. His mind was whirring with scenarios, possibilities, suspicions and fear. Why had Luna sought him out? He did not know if he should report that to Draco. If he did, he might make his friend worry more and push him to some wrong decisions. He just had to be careful next time he was in the library. Being caught with that book would not have ended well for him today and if Snape had caught him and used legilimens on him, he would have put Draco in even more trouble, drawing the ire of the Dark Lord possibly and Theo did not want to see that twisted snake face ever in his life.

Meanwhile Luna had had her suspicions confirmed. Indeed it would seem that You-know-who had started reaching out to the children of his followers, probably to gain entry to Hogwarts. She could go and report that to Professor Dumbledore right now but then that was not what she had been tasked to do. A huge part of her had been scared that day, when she had stumbled upon the Headmaster in the thestrals meadow. It was that day that she realised that war was coming and it was already looming on the horizon. She had listened with rapt attention when the professor had very cleverly given her this task. Some other part of her had resented that a bit, clearly seeing that their old headmaster had had to resort to using his students to fight the small battles before the war. But she was pragmatic and could see that it was unavoidable. You-know-who had changed the field a long time ago by going after a baby and now, through the Death Eaters' children. He had brought the war to Hogwarts. 'It really took evil to do something like that', she thought turning over in her bed, 'but evil did not understand compassion, innocence nor love.' This was where Hogwarts had the leverage, because in this place, love surpassed evil every day. And she fell asleep with a satisfied smile on her face.

xx

The next day Luna could sense Theo's gaze on her whenever they crossed paths. As she predicted, lost people often needed an anchor and she was more than willing to be that anchor for Theo. She would need to be careful at first but once he began to trust her, she would protect him. She really did not like the tired set of his shoulders. Someone who looked like him should stand proud and fine, not tired from life already. Yes, she would try her best to make Theo happy. For a minute, the direction of her thoughts made her pause, quite literally, in the middle of the packed gallery. She was very grateful that the person who crashed into her was only Ginny.

"Oh Merlin Luna! Are you alright?" her red-haired friend asked her.

"Quite alright Ginny. I apologize for making you bump into me. I think the wrackspurts have been making my brain confused and fuzzy since yesterday," she replied seriously.

Ginny had long since accepted that Luna will be Luna and the only way to determine any emotions from her was by doing it her way.

"The wrackspurts, what had they been troubling you with?" she asked jokingly while linking their arms together and steering the air-headed blond towards their transformation classroom.

"Oh well, you see, every time I think about somebody, I get these strange emotions that form unbelievable thoughts in my head. The worst part is I cannot control them," she replied, trying her best to figure out the way of dealing with that.

"May I be curious and ask who that somebody is then?" Ginny asked, stifling a grin. When no reply came, she turned her head to find that Luna had wandered off in her head again. Rolling her eyes, Ginny guided Luna in a relatively quieter corridor and shook her friend out of her thoughts.

"Oh! Sorry, did I space out again? Are we not going to class?"

"We are, you silly girl," the young Weasley replied exasperatedly. "And because we are in a hurry, I will just spell it out to you Luna, you have a crush. It is as simple as that, no wrackspurts-caused confusion or anything. Now come on before McGonagall catches us."

'A crush,' Luna thought agitatedly, 'I'll need to think about that.'

xx

"My friend says that I have a crush on you and she is right."

Theo swore under his breath and hastened in the direction of the castle, leaving the lake behind and any hope of catching the sunrise and a few moments of peace. However, the little blond that had captured his attention two weeks ago fell easily in step with him. 'As if we've done that a thousand times before.' Again he swore at the completely inappropriate thought that bloomed in his mind. She had completely messed him up. Having him attuned to her through the weeks, worrying about the small frowns she'd throw his way as if deep in contemplation did not sit well with him. He avoided the lake, the thestrals meadow and library for he had noticed they shared the same private getaways on the school ground.

"A crush huh? Well love, I don't have time for crushes in my life right now."

"I know," was the timid answer he got. The tone did not stop him from ploughing on though, even when he started feeling like a bit of an ass and a liar if he had to be completely honest with himself.

"You really should learn how to go about disclosing your feelings too, Lovegood. Stalking is never a good option. And anyway, I don't feel the same about you."

Luna was quiet for a bit, allowing her heart to acknowledge the hurt. She turned to him when they made it to the courtyard, going for the huge double doors. She placed a hand on his arm and the action halted him. His head whipped down to her hand and his breath faltered.

"Luckily Theo, this isn't about me but about you." He raised his eyes to hers, keeping his body still turned away from her. Knowing she had his attention and curiosity piqued, she continued. "That book that you took, the fear you carry, this is not necessary." She tightened her grip when she felt him jerk away from her and her words rushed out. "At first, Professor Dumbledore just meant for me to watch out for you. He spoke of being worried for his students closest to You-know-who's influence, those who would probably be subjected to his terror reign first. He knew that the Death Eaters would want access to Hogwarts and he wants you to know that you are no pawn, no soldier in this war unless you are fighting for what you believe. Otherwise, you are only a sacrifice."

This time her grip did nothing to stop him as he whirled towards her, anger crackling in his eyes. And yet, she thought, he did not draw his wand nor did he run away.

"Listen carefully Lovegood. You go back to Dumbledore and you tell him to stay out of people's business. Tell him you carried out your mission and leave me the hell alone. Do you understand?"

Luna grew bold and stepped up to him, held unto his arms and looked straight into his eyes.

"At this point Theo," her voice had a steel to it that scared him shitless and made him listen. The little girl that had her head in the clouds and barely reached his chin was gone. In its place stood a woman who was desperate and protective. 'Quite like Narcissa protecting us,' he thought while shock took over his senses. "At this point, I am being very selfish in demanding that you see the recklessness of your actions and that you stop this nonsense immediately. Whatever has to be done, I will help you but we will do it the right way and not hurt anybody in the process, especially you! Do you understand that?"

She let go of his right arm but kept her palm resting lightly on his forearm. Theo could not tell for how long they stood like that until eventually, the warmth of her palm soaked through his skin and a wave of gratitude and…affection swept through him. He looked down at her right hand and nodded his head. She breathed a sigh of relief and took off her hand. A wind blew across the empty courtyard and she shivered. Theo took her in, this witch who came out of nowhere and suddenly his mind and body did not want to go very far from her ever again. He still could not wrap his head around the emotions she had awaken in him but he was glad she was here, even though he would not admit that out loud. He preferred the storm inside him that gave him purpose and goal. Nothing could be that easy and they would have a lot to work through as the war fell upon them. He knew that and yet, atleast now he had an anchor to hold him to a path he chose and he would fight for it, because there was nothing worse than being pathetically thrown around by someone's power-hungry agenda. Keeping his eyes on hers, Theo took off his outer robe, black with a deep green wool lining inside. He carefully swung it around her shoulders, her long hair trapped inside the giant collar. As he bundled her up, he dared to slide one hand against the side of her cheek. Then, he stepped away and walked off towards the warmth of the castle.

Luna burrowed further in the coat, a dreamy smile on her face. She watched him walk away and already thought about the next time they'll meet again. She called out to Theo just before he disappeared through the doors,

"I'll give you back the coat. I promise I won't let the Nargles take it away."

He turned around and for the first time gave her a smile that she knew would make her hare shine ten times brighter the next time she had to conjure it.


End file.
